Process of forming face brick



8. M. DUTY PROCESS OF FORMING FACE BRICK March 30 1926.

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certain improvements in the production of to produce brick, the texture and Patented Mar. 30, 1926.

UNITED STATES 1,578,409 PATENT OFFICE.

SPENCER M. DUTY, OF CLEVELAND, OHIO, ASSIGNOR TO THE MEDAL BRICK AND TILE COMPANY, 01' CLEVELAND, OHIO, A CORPORATION OF OHIO.

rnocnss or ronmneraon BRICK.

Application 'llled December 29, 1924. Serial No. 758,623.

To all whom it may concern;

Be it known that I, SPENCER M. DUTY, a citizen of the United States, residing at Cleveland, in the county of Cuyahoga and State of Ohio, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Processes of Forming Face Brick, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

This invention relates to an improved process of forming face brick, such as enter into the construction of dwellings and other buildings.

The principal object of the invention is to provide a new process of making face brick, and in its'more specific aspect, to provide brick by" the stiff mud process, by which process or improvements the appearance of the brick, both in texture andrange of colors is greatly improved without, however, affecting the durability of the brick. More particularly, it is theaim of the invention color effects of which are such as to give a very pleasing appearance to the wall or building, and to overcome'the objections to the brick which are used to a large extent at the pres ent time,to-wit, the objectionable and monotonous shiny appearance of the die-surfaced brick and the mechanical roughness produced b scratching or wire-cutting the surface'of rick, such as is done at the present time in the production of brick by the stiff mud process. The so-called dry press process and soft mud process are used less extensively than the stiff mud process, particularly as the shiny surface appearance of the brick formed by the first-named does not find as much favor with buildersand architects.

As is well known, the brick produced by the stiff mud process are made by forcing .clay or ground shale through a die by means of anauger, the clay being extruded from the die in the form of a continupus column which is cut into brick by means of wires.-

As the brick produced by this method would, unless given. a surface treatment glisten, and would be so regular and smooth as to produce a monotonous, harsh wall, cer- 'tain surface treatments have been resorted to. In some instances the surface of the column while being extruded is scratched means of wires or nails, and in some ill-i stances the surface of the column is removed or cut off by means of wires stretched across the mouth of the die, the former procedure producing what is known as vertical texture brick and the latter mat texture brick. Though these brick are used very extensively, the roughness thus produced is I considered-mechanical. v

In an attempt to overcome the mechanically roughened surface appearance of the vertical texture and mat texture brick, sand has been used to break up the smooth die surface. Though by this process the shine terial becoming an integral part of the brick. so

This is done by applying to the wet brick body, and referably on all surfaces thereof which are ikely to be exposed in the wall, i. e. one side and the ends of the brick, a relatively dry, finely divided material having plastic qualities, or which when'wet'becomes plastic. This is applied in appreciable thickness, preferably from one-sixteenth to one-eighth of an inch, so as to completel cover the original wet brick surface, whic for reasons hereinafter explained, is preferably a mechanically roughened surface.

The material-which is thus applied to the wet'brick body is preferably the same material which forms the body, except that it is in a dry or relatively dry state and is more finely screened than the ground shale or clay forming the body of the brick. That is to say, assuming that the brick is formed of ground up shale, (as the process is preferably carried out) ground shale screened to a fineness such that it. is substantially ,in the form of powder forms or constitutes the surfacing material, but no water isapplied to it,

as is done with the ground shale used in forming the bod I'wish it to be understood, however, t at although in the process as now carried out byme, t

relatively dry and more ely divided state,

e surfacing material. is the same as 1s used in forming thethe essential characteristic is that the ma-' terial be of a plastic nature, or that it has plastic qualities so that when it absorbs moisture from the body of the brick, it will adhere to it and become an integral part of it duringthe vitrifying process, which takes place in burning. In other words, it may be desirable to add one or more ingredients to the surfacing material which I preferably employ, and the addition of any such ingredient I would regard as coming within the scope of my invention.

The stiff m'ud method by which vertical texture or mattexture brick are produced is admirably adapted, with the addition of my present improvements, to my process, though the mechanical roughening is employed or utilized by me when the relatively dry surface material is applied for anentirely new purpose, i. e. to increase the bond between the wet body and dry surfacing material. r i

The surfacing material'is applied to the top and sides of the column, preferably after the latter has been cut into brick sections, so that the dry material will not interfere with the cutting operation, or clog or break the wires used in cutting, and after it is applied to these surfaces of the cut column it is preferably rolled against the surfaces so as to cause it to better adhere thereto and .to have a substantially uniform depth.

The apparatus used in carrying out my invention may, of course, be varied very extensively. Particularly is this true in regard to the apparatus used in forming the wet brick body, or the column when my improvements are utilized in conjunction with or in addition to the stiff mud process, as is preferred. In the accompanying sheets of drawings I have illustrated certain apparatus used in the stiff mud process, and those portions of the apparatus which are stand ard practice in carrying out the stiff mud process are shown only conventionally.

In the accompanying drawings, Fig. 1 is a side elevation showing so much of the ap-v paratus as is necessary to an understanding of the invention Fig. 2 is a sectional-view substantially along the line 22 of Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is an enlarged top plan view of that portion of the same utilized in applying the relatively dry surfacing material to the cut column or wet brick bodies; Fig. 4 is a perspective view of the apparatus shown in Fig. 1;-and Fig. 5 is a cross-sectional view just beyond the plow which levels off the dry material and scrapes -the excess. from the wet sectional column.

Referring nowto the drawings, the part 10 at the left hand side of Fig.1 represents the die through which the column 11 of wetclay or shale is extruded, the column passing out in a horizontal direction and traveling over a conveyor indicated at 12. The

part of the apparatus which receives the trudes it in column form may be that commonly employed, and it is believed no illustration of it is necessary, it being understood that the shale or clay is ground upand screened before being applied to the columnforming part of the apparatus where it is mixed with water applied in the right pro-- portions.

As previously stated, the surface of the column is preferably mechanically roughened, and I might here state that in this instance this is done to increase the bond between the wet clay body. and the relatively dry surfacing material. By proceeding 1n this manner my improved process can be carried out more effectively than if the dry fine- 1y divided material is applied to smoothand comparatively hard die surfaces of the column, and additionally I find that the finished brick has a more desirable appearance or texture if the surfaces of the column to. which the dry material is applied are first roughened. As the process is carried out by me, the mat texture is given to the column by cutting off the top and side surfaces thereof with wires commonly employed for this purpose, and at 13 I have shown a frame holding the wires 14 which slice off material from the top and'sides of the column to produce the mat texture.

The column then passes through the cutting machine, indicated conventionally at 15, this machine in practice including an oscillatory frame with a series of taut piano wires, this frame moving forwardly with the column while the actual cutting is taking place, and then moving back to normal position, ,it being understood that the wires are spaced apart a distance equivalent to the width of the brick sections to be formed from the column. Cutting machines of this type are well-known, and a diagrammatic or conventional illustration of the same in Fig. 1 is thought to be sufficient. By this machine the column 11 is cut transversely into brick sections 16, of uniform width, these brick sections forming the body portions of the brick which are surfaced on the ends and on one side, as will next be explained.

I find, as already stated, that if the dry material is applied to the column before it is cut into sections, it is liable to clog and otherwise interferewith the proper operation of the cutting machine. For that reason it isdesirable that the column be cut into sections before the dry material is applied] wet clay or shale, and which finally excess material'ofi the .to

be seen that as here shown, the cut column next receives the surfacing material by being passed through the apparatus best shown in Flgs. 3 and 4. This includes a hopper 17, into which the dry and powderous or finel screened shale or other material is place which material, as already stated, is preferably the same as that which is employed to form the body of the brick. The cut or sectional column passes under this hopper, through the equivalent of an open-ended trough, composed of a bottom plate 18 and upstanding side plates 19, the forward portions indicated at 19 being preferably somewhat closer together than the rear portions, as shown in the drawings. The bottom of the hopper has a discharge mouth -or outlet, the width of which is substantially the width of the column, and as the column moves slowly under the hopper and through the trough, the dry material is deposited on it, the rate of flow being determined by a vertically adjustable slide 20, which serves also'as a scraper or leveler, scraping the exof the column and causing it to fall down into and fill the space between the column and the side plates 19, so that the dry material may'attach itself not only to the top surface of the cut column, but also to the sides. In other words, as the cut column passes through the trough and under the hopper, the ,top and sides thereof virtually pass through a body of the surfacing material. By capillary attraction the moisture in the wet column penetrates the dry material, and a certain bond is formed at this point, causing the surfacing material to attach itself to. the column.

Forwardly of the slide 20 there is a vertically adjustable wedge-shaped plow 21, which further levels off the top surface and determines the amount of material left thereon, the excess being scraped. off and falling between the column and the side plates 19.

Forwardly of. the plow, the surfacing material 'notwet to a degree, is compacted by rollers, including twovertically disposed rollers 22, which engage the sides of. the now coated column, and a horizontal roller 23 which rolls down the surfacing material on the top of the column. Preferably the Y side rollers are pressed inwardly against the sides of the column through the medium of springs, and preferably the roller 23 is pressed down by its own weight, or by gravity, the side rollers being in this Instance supported in pivoted brackets 24, and the top or horizontal roller 23 in slots of standards 25. By the action of these rollers the bond is increased between the surfacing material and .the column.

When the sectional column passes these rollers, the top and sidesthereof are covered to a practically uniform depth, which may be varied from approximate y one-sixteenth of an inch or less to some predetermined greater thickness, such as one-eighth of an inch. In anyevent, the previously roughened top and side surfaces are completely covered by a coating of the surfacing material, of an appreciable thickness such as that stated above.

A short'distance forwardly of the roller 23, the column rides-ofi' the bottom plate 18 onto a traveling belt 26, which moves somewhat faster than the column moves when sliding over the bottom plate 18, so that as the brick engage this belt they are separated, as indicated in Fig. 3, and can be removed from the belt and placed on a car for further treatment.

The coated or surfaced brick are""next placed in a drier, where the so-called mechanical water is removed. In the drying process, as the excess 'moisture or After being dried, the brick are burned, I

and by the vitrifying process in the burning, practically a uniform or homogeneous fusion is obtained between the brick body and the surfacing material, the latter becoming an integral part of the brick, but there is, nevertheless, produced a texture and a range of colors at the surface which are peculiar to brick formed in this manner and more pleasing and satisfactory than in the brick formed by the prior known processes.

Having described my invention, I claim 1 1. The process of producing face brick, which comprises forming a brick body of wet plastic material, ap lying' to the surface thereof relatively ry and finely divided material having plastic qualities, and burning the bricks so as to cause a uniform and substantially homogeneous structure between the body and surfacing material.

'2. The process of producing face brick, which comprises forming a brick body of wet stiff plastic material, applying. to the I 3. The method of producing face brick,

which comprises forming a brick body of wet stiff plastic material, coverlng portions of the surface thereof with the same or substantially' the same material in a relatively brick body, and then treating the composite,

brick thus formed so as to vitrify the materials and cause a substantially homogeneous structure.

5. The process of producing face brick, which comprises extrudin stiff brick-forming material adapted to be cut into sections, applying to portions of'the surface thereof in appreciable thickness a relatively dry finely dividing brick-forming A material having plastic qualities so that it will adhere to the wet surface, compacting it onto the wet surface, and then vitrifying the materials and thereby causing the surfacing material to become an integral part of the brick structure.

6. The process of producing face brick, which comprises extruding a column of wet stifl brick-forming material adapted to be cut into sections, applying to portions of the' wet surfaces thereof 'a relatively dry finely divided material having plastic qualities of the same or substantially the same composition which entered into the formation of the column, compacting the material thereon,

and burning the brick thus formed so as to cause the surfacing material to become an integral part of the brlck and a substantially uniform or homogeneous structure with the original brick body.

' 7. The process of producing face brick, which'comprisesforming a' column of stiff wet plastic brick-forming material, cutting the column into sections, applying to portions of the surfaces thereof in appreciable thickness so as to cover said portions, a relatively dry finely divided material of the same or substantially the same composition asthat of which the column is formed, and burning the brick so as to cause the surfacing material to become an integral part of it and a uniformor substantially homogeneous structure with the brick body.

8. The process of producing face brick,

a column of wet which comprises extruding a column of stiff wet plastic brick-formingmaterial, cutting the same into sections as it is extruded, applying to the top and sides of the section or column after bein cut. into sections, relatively dry finely divided brick-forming material of the same or substantially the same composition as that which entered into the formation of the column, compacting the material on said surfaces, and then burning the composite bricks thus formed so as to cause thevsurfacihg material to become an integral part thereof and to form a substantially uniform structure with the original wet brick body.

9. The process of producing face brick, which comprises forming abrick body of wet plastic material and with a roughened surface, applying to the surface thereof relatively dry and finely divided material having plastic qualities, and burning the bricks so as to cause a uniform and subst-antially homogeneous structure between the body and surfacing material.

10. The process of producing face brick, which comprises extruding a column of wet stiff brick-forming material adapted .to be cut into sections, roughening the surface of the column while being'extruded, applying to portions of the surface thereof in appreciable thickness a relatively dry finely divided brick-forming material having plastic qualities, so that it will adhere to the wet surface,

compacting it onto the wet surface, and then it is extruded, applying to the top and sides 0 of the section or column after being cut into sections relatively dry finely divided brickforming material of the same or substantially the same composition as that which entered into the formation of the column,

compacting the material on said surfaces, and then burning the composite bricks thus formed so as to cause the surfacing material to become an integral part thereof and to form a substantially uniform structure with.

the original wet brick body.

In testimony whereof, I hereunto aflix my signature.

SPENCER M. DUTY. 

